Current mobile device technology allows wireless communication with other computing devices over wireless and wired telecommunication infrastructure using several different methods. Such methods may include voice communication, transmission of messages using the short messaging service (SMS) or multimedia messaging service (MMS) or communication via electronic mail. In order to facilitate communication using such methods, specific software applications are installed on the mobile device to support the desired method of communication.
For many existing mobile devices that support communication methods additional to telephony, when a user wishes to make a telephone call, the user must launch the telephone application. Alternatively, if the user wishes to send a message via SMS, the user must launch an SMS application on the mobile device and then compose a message. Similarly, email communication is facilitated using a dedicated email application. If the user is currently using a telephone application and wishes to send an electronic mail to one of the contacts for which a telephone number is displayed in the telephone application, it is generally necessary to exit the telephone application and launch the electronic mail application in order to begin composing the desired electronic mail message.
Accordingly, it is generally necessary to exit one application and launch another application if the desired method of communication is not supported by the first application. This can be cumbersome and inconvenient from the user's perspective.
The described embodiments attempt to address or ameliorate one or more shortcomings of user interface aspects of existing mobile device technology, or to at least provide a useful alternative thereto.